River Woods subdivision returns to North Canaan P&Z agenda

NORTH CANAAN — A public hearing was held Oct. 15 for comment on draft text changes regarding restrictions on cul de sac street development.

The application for this change was originally submitted in May by the developers of the River Woods subdivision, also known as Honey Hill, along the Housatonic River. The developers requested a text amendment to increase the total number of lots permitted on a dead-end road in North Canaan from 12 to 20 and to extend the maximum length of dead ends beyond the current limit of 1,000-feet.

Several meetings and hearings over the summer resulted in drafted text changes. Under P&Z’s draft, the standard subdivision limit for number of lots on a dead-end road would be increased to 15. The maximum road length increased to 1,500 feet.

Additional language was proposed regarding conservation parcels. The change would require easement-protected land to be contained within a single parcel and that up to 30% of a standard subdivision property could be allocated for conservation by request of P&Z.

Alterations to the threshold of a conservation subdivision were made as well. Under the proposed text change, 40% of a property must be easement-protected in order to qualify as a conservation subdivision. On conservation subdivisions, a maximum of 18 lots would be permitted on dead ends with up to 2,000 feet of road.

Abbott said all changes have been reviewed and endorsed by the town attorney.

The Oct. 15 public hearing included testimony from three speakers, none of whom were residents of North Canaan.

Attorney Charles Andres, representing Bruce McEver, the owner of the property of the proposed River Woods subdivision, requested P&Z Chair Tim Abbott recuse himself from discussion related to the text changes. He felt the text changes directly impact the River Woods application and that Abbott is unfit to preside due to his vocal opposition of the project.

Abbott noted he is recused from discussions about the River Woods project, but the dead-end regulations effect the whole town.

Andres noted that Abbott, on behalf of the Housatonic Valley Association, inquired about purchasing the land from McEver. Abbott is the conservation director at HVA.

Land use professional Janel Mullen advised P&Z to reject the drafted text change.

“The proposed update to the Town of North Canaan subdivision regulations are not an improvement or thoughtfully crafted by an impartial professional,” said Mullen.

She said the text change, which was drafted by Abbott, was created improperly and would benefit from the guidance of an expert. “Most of these changes would directly and detrimentally impact the River Woods proposal,” she said.

Mullen added that P&Z’s 65-day review period to vote on the original text change application expired on Aug. 3 and no extension was issued.

“The Honey Hill development group should be granted a timely decision,” said Mullen.

Mullen stated she was not actively contracted with the Town of North Canaan. Landowner McEver later said Mullen was hired by him.

Once the public hearing adjourned, P&Z moved into its regular meeting. The commissioners felt more research was required before voting on the text changes (for both the original application and the version drafted by Abbott). The item will be added as “old business” for the November P&Z meeting.

“We’re not voting at all right now,” said Abbott, who then recused himself before a new application for the River Woods subdivision was put forth.

Revised application

George Johannesen of Allied Engineering presented a revised application for the subdivision of Bruce McEver’s property. He stated this plan is not preferred by the developers, but it is in compliance with current zoning regulations.

The new plan calls for 33 lots, up from 20 in the cul de sac plan, ranging from 1.5 to 9 acres each. The proposed loop road is 3,750 feet long with two directional traffic.

Johannesen said this is an increase of more than 500 feet of pavement compared to the cul de sac plan. The plan would require additional clearing of the forest to make way for a larger road.

“We never got an answer on our proposed text amendment so we were kind of pushed into this,” said Johanssen. “This meets all the requirements. It’s just not a very good layout.”

Johannesen said until a vote is held on the requested text change, the 33-lot plan will be moving forward.

A public hearing on the new application was set for Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.

During public comment, McEver addressed the commission’s lack of action on the proposed text change. He said P&Z should have hired Mullen to draft a text change instead of having Chairman Abbott write the change.

“What Tim drafted is going to shut down development in this town for the rest of your lives,” said McEver. “Use an expert when you draft things. It’s pretty simple.”

He emphasized he would prefer to pursue the 20-lot cul de sac plan but will move forward with the 33-lot plan if the requested text change is not approved.

“We’ve got a proposal that complies with what you’ve got on the table and it’s legal. I’ll take either one.”